Ringgold: Big 12 Will Be Fun To Watch

The most intriguing conference to watch during the upcoming college football season may be the Big 12.

The most intriguing conference to watch during the upcoming college football season may be the Big 12.

In most of the years of the Big 12’s existence, you could generally count on Oklahoma or Texas (and perhaps Nebraska when it was still in the league) to win the conference. But the last couple of seasons, it’s been Oklahoma State and Kansas State which earned the automatic berth to the Fiesta Bowl as the league’s champion.

So what’s in store for the Big 12 this season? There are a number of schools capable of winning the conference.

Of course, you have to put league kingpins OU and Texas to have a shot at winning it. Add Oklahoma State and TCU in there as well.

For the Sooners, it will be somewhat of a transition year as they return just a handful of starters, with the most notable position being at quarterback, where they must replace four-year starter Landry Jones. It’s come down to redshirt freshman Trevor Knight or junior Blake Bell (of “Belldozer” fame), and while OU — at least since Bob Stoops has been the coach — has traditionally promoted an experienced signal-caller to take over, it may not be the case this time as Knight appears to be the front-runner for the job.

The Sooners do return some experience at running back and receiver, and they do bring back several starters up front so the offense should still be fine no matter who gets the nod at quarterback. But OU’s title hopes will be dependent on the defense as the Sooners bring back four starters from a unit which gave up an average of nearly 400 yards per game, and gave up at least 400 yards in four of their final five games last season, including 633 in the Cotton Bowl loss to Texas A&M. The outlook on defense doesn’t appear to be better, though the Sooners do have some young players with potential to become impact players.

Texas returns 19 starters, the most in the conference. Even more importantly, the Longhorns are one of the few teams in the league bringing back their returning quarterback with junior David Ash back in the fold. They also bring back nine starters on defense.

But as has been the case in recent seasons under coach Mack Brown, the Longhorns have had a tendency to not play up to their vast potential, whether it’s giving up at least 55 points against Oklahoma each of the past two seasons or losing nine games at home over the past three seasons, so at this point, can you truly trust Texas week in and week out?

Oklahoma State, on paper, may be the most talented team in the conference. The Cowboys also return several starters, and although they also are dealing with quarterback issues, they have two players with solid experience in Clint Chelf and J.W. Walsh. OSU running back Jeremy Smith may continue the trend of the Cowboys producing a 1,000-yard running back and they bring back receivers Josh Stewart, Charlie Moore and Tracy Moore.

Like OU, it will be defense which can make or break the Cowboys’ title hopes. OSU returns seven starters on defense, but in the Cowboys’ final two conference games of 2012, they gave up more than 600 yards. The Cowboys will be under the direction of a new full-time defensive coordinator in Glenn Spencer and do have solid talent returning like tackles Calvin Barnett and James Castleman, linebacker Caleb Lavey and free safety Daytawion Lowe. OSU does have to go to Texas but will play home games against TCU, Baylor and OU, a game on Dec. 7 which could decide the conference championship.

TCU is another interesting team to watch. The Horned Frogs return 16 starters, including nine on defense. But their most significant returning starter is quarterback Casey Pachall, who was a two-year starter before being suspended midway through last season due to personal issues. Pachall is the Football Bowl Subdivision leader in career pass efficiency among active quarterbacks, so if he can regain his past form, the Frogs could come away with the league title.

Baylor and Kansas State may not win the conference but both teams will still have a say in who does, as long as Art Briles of Baylor and K-State’s legendary Bill Snyder continue to roam the sidelines. Texas Tech has a new coach in former QB Kliff Kingsbury, who may prove to be a better fit because of his ties to the program and his preference to run the same pass-happy offense which former coach Mike Leach so famously ran.

West Virginia and Iowa State will have the potential to spring an upset or two. Kansas is the overwhelming favorite to bring up the rear in the conference but the Jayhawks have playmakers on offense.

If I had to guess on one team which will win the Big 12, I lean toward Oklahoma State.

Buck Ringgold is a Times Record sports writer. Email: bringgold@swtimes.com. Twitter: @BR_TimesRecord.

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